Professor Jacqueline Wald, a Spanish lecturer of eight years, plans to join the Peace Corps for a two-year eco-tourism project in Panama

Professor Wald will teach English to prospective tour guides and train public school educators in enhanced teaching strategies. She admits that living in a Spanish-speaking country for two years could further advance her already fluent tongue and broaden her knowledge of the Latin culture.

Professor Jacqueline Wald, a Spanish lecturer of eight years, plans to leave SMU to join the Peace Corps for a two-year eco-tourism project in Central America. Her husband, attorney Michael Wald, a law practitioner for 31 years specializing in estate planning, contract and business law, will accompany her.

The pair will leave for Santiago, Panama, at the end of April to join 180 other volunteers. Wald says she has made arrangements with her colleagues to "take care of her students" for the remainder of the semester, especially with finals peeking around the corner from the time of her departure.

She says that the adjustment will not be difficult for the students since their current Spanish lab professors would be the ones to fill in for the lectures. She will also be available to contact by e-mail for questions, concerns and final reviews.

Professor Wald will teach English to prospective tour guides and train public school educators in enhanced teaching strategies. She admits that living in a Spanish-speaking country for two years could further advance her already fluent tongue and broaden her knowledge of the Latin culture.

Panama sits on an isthmus that connects North and South Americas, surrounded by deep blue water, with the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Its tropical warm weather, cooled by tall Jacaranda trees, attracts tourists from across the globe. On the other end of the spectrum, "fine residential" communities rest in a mountain paradise near the ocean, where the breeze blows cooler, according to panamainfo.com.

Wald and her husband's decision to surrender salaried careers, a cozy home and transportation to become full-time volunteers runs deeper than a craving for vacation.

"Living in such a consumer-based economy, we just want to give back something in life," Wald said. "We've been so blessed."

She hopes to boost socio-economical awareness of impoverished countries by embedding herself in the experience and returning to the United States to share it.

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Story Source: SMU

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Panama; Older Volunteers

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